News

The Washington Running Club has a decades long history of reporting on its own news, in what can best be described as a labor of love. The club places importance on preserving these artifacts of its culture and heritage. Without such artifacts, the club has no memory and no mechanism to learn from its successes and failures. Our club now produces more and more artifacts in digital form. A part of WRC’s mission is to preserve those artifacts and create an enduring resource for former, current, and future club members and their allies.

The principal component of WRC’s archives is the Newsletter and its equivalents:

Many of these documents are formatted as PDFs that can be read (and searched) in the browser or using PDF Viewers which are available for free. Others were distilled from their original (or restored) HTML format and are represented as blog posts with publication dates reflecting their original chronology.

The first generation of WRC newsletters was written, edited, printed, and mailed to the membership. In 1999, the club first registered the washrun.org domain name, and the newsletter transformed into a biweekly series of email updates that were also archived as HTML on the website.

The website was reformatted and launched for a second time in 2008. By 2009, the WRC Newsletter transformed once again into occasional email announcements.

The website was launched for the third time in 2010 using a web CMS, with help from our friends at DCRR.

In late 2012, the Newsletter returned to its original monthly publication format, and distributed as both HTML and PDF to the membership via the {wrc-members} email announcement list. The website was launched for the fourth time in February 2013 using WordPress.

Thanks and recognition

Thanks to Kit Wells for scanning the newsletter issues prior to 2000 from the hard-copy originals quietly retired in Gerry Ives’s home. Thanks also to Jack Coffey for contributing club minutes and newsletters prior to 1982, to Allen Naylor for contributing membership rosters and newsletters prior to 1984, to Dave Keating for designing the original website in 1999, to Jim Wadsworth for administering the website through 2007, and to Kirk Masterson for administering the website through early 2013.

About WRC

Washington Running Club (WRC) is a long-distance running club for runners of all abilities living in and around Washington, DC. The club meets for distance runs, participates in race events, and gathers for various social outings throughout the year.

What WRC members have in common, regardless of their abilities, is an interest in the sport of running and being a part of the larger running community. Club members also provide aid and comfort to their fellow members as well as exchange advice and tips on running. Overall, we strive to improve our running, maintain our health and fitness, and have fun!